1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bridging device connected between a host and an external peripheral device, and in particular relates to a power-saving method for a bridging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a host may contain one or more connection ports for communicating with external peripheral devices. Each connection port may relate to one communication protocol. When an external peripheral device does not support the communication protocol of the connection ports of a host, a bridging device is required as a communication protocol conversion media. By the bridging device, data communication between the external peripheral device and the host is achieved.
In conventional techniques, when a bridging device does not work for communication protocol conversion, the bridging chip of the bridging device is operated in a power-saving state which consumes very little power. However, a buck dc-dc converter which controls the voltage conversion in the bridging device still operates in a working state which consumes considerable power. Thus, the conventional bridging device may consume redundant power in the power-saving state because of the continuously operated buck dc-dc converter.